Cam plate adjustment for recutter screen of forage harvester

Claim 2

A forage cutter including a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a shaft mounted for rotation in said housing, a rotary cutter mounted on said shaft and having at least one cutting edge, said cutting edge describing a cylindrical cutting path as it rotates about the axis of said shaft, a shapable recutter having an effective radius equal to the radius of said cutting path plus a selected clearance, means for mounting said recutter adjacent to said outlet, means for relocating said recutter in a generally radial direction in order to selectively modify the effective radius of said recutter to conform to a change in the radius of said cutting path.

Claim 3

A forage cutter including a housing, a rotary shaft mounted for rotation in said housing, a rotary cutter mounted on said shaft and having a plurality of cutting knives, a shapable recutter screen positioned in coacting shearing relation with the cutting knives, a pair of rotatable annular disks mounted about said shaft and engaged with the recutter screen, said disks having a curved abutment edge of decreasing radius about its circumference for positioning and controlling the radius of the recutter screen.

Claim 4

A forage cutter including a housing, a rotary shaft mounted for rotation in said housing, a rotary cutter mounted on said shaft and having a plurality of cutting knives, a shapable recutter screen positioned in coacting shearing relation with the cutting knives, a pair of rotatable annular disks mounted about said shaft and engaged with the recutter screen, said disks having a curved abutment edge of decreasing radius about its circumference for positioning and controlling the radius of the recutter screen.

Claim 5

The cutter of claim 2 wherein each of said disks is movable from a first position where a first segment of its abutment edge is engaged with said recutter screen to a second position where a second segment of its abutment edge having a different effective radius than said first segment is engageable with said recutter screen.

Claim 6

The cutter of claim 3 including adjusting means for adjusting said recutter screen from its engagement with the first segment of the abutment edge to engagement with said second segment to vary the effective radius of the recutter screen and bring it into proper cutting relation with the cutting knives.

Claim 7

The cutter of claim 3 wherein said annular disks each have coupling means for engagement with a tool which operates to rotate said disks from said first position to said second position.

Claim 8

The cutter of claim 5 wherein said coupling means comprises a plurality of notches on the outer periphery of said disk.

Claim 9

The cutter of claim 6 wherein a retainer is secured to said recutter and has access means for permitting a tool to engage said coupling means.

Claim 10

The cutter of claim 6 including a first series of notches that extend from the high point of the abutment edge and a second series of notches that extend from the low point of the abutment edge.

Claim 11

The cutter of claim 4 wherein said housing has a pair of end walls and including a pair of bearing cylinders for supporting the ends of said shaft, and wherein each disk is rotatably mounted on one of said cylinders with a friction fit and rotatably clamped between one of said end walls and a flange on one of said cylinders.

Claim 12

A forage cutter including a housing having a pair of end walls; a rotary cylinder shaft journaled for rotation in said end walls; a rotary cutter mounted on said shaft and having a plurality of cutting knives; a shapeable recutter screen positioned in coacting shearing relation with the cutting knives; rotatable cam means for positioning and controlling the radius of the recutter screen, said cam means comprising (a) a first annular disk rotatably mounted about said shaft adjacent one of said end walls and having a curved abutment edge of descending radius about its circumference, and (b) a second annular disk rotatably mounted about said shaft adjacent the other of said end walls and having a curved abutment edge of descending radius about its circumference, said disks each having a first segment of their abutment edge engaged with said recutter screen, said first segment of each disk having the same effective radius, and said disks being movable to a position where a second segment of their abutment edge is engaged with the recutter screen, said second segments of each disk having the same effective radius which is different than the effective radius of said first segments; and adjusting means for adjusting the recutter screen from its engagment with said first segments to engagement with said second segments to vary the effective radius of the recutter screen and bring it into proper cutting relation with the cutting knives.

Claim 13

A forage cutter including a housing having a pair of end walls; a rotary cylinder shaft journaled for rotation in said end walls; a rotary cutter mounted on said shaft and having a plurality of cutting knives; a shapeable recutter screen positioned in coacting shearing relation with the cutting knives; rotatable cam means for positioning and controlling the radius of the recutter screen, said cam means comprising (a) a first annular disk rotatably mounted about said shaft adjacent one of said end walls and having a curved abutment edge of descending radius about its circumference, and (b) a second annular disk rotatably mounted about said shaft adjacent the other of said end walls and having a curved abutment edge of descending radius about its circumference, said disks each having a first segment of their abutment edge engaged with said recutter screen, said first segment of each disk having the same effective radius, and said disks being movable to a position where a second segment of their abutment edge is engaged with the recutter screen, said second segments of each disk having the same effective radius which is different than the effective radius of said first segments; and adjusting means for adjusting the recutter screen from its engagment with said first segments to engagement with said second segments to vary the effective radius of the recutter screen and bring it into proper cutting relation with the cutting knives.

Claim 14

A forage cutter as defined in claim 1 within said means for modifying the effective radius of said recutter includes a plurality of cams spaced apart along the axis of said shaft, each of said cams having a curved abutment edge, adjacent sections of said edge having different curvatures, and including means for forcing said recutter into contact with said abutment edges whereby movement of said cams align different sections of the abutment edges with said recutter effecting modification of the effective radius of said recutter.